Foreign Investments

News about Foreign Investments, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Dec. 29, 2014

German companies are putting off projects and investments in Russia due to mistrust over Ukrainian conflict; more than one-third of German firms with Russian operations are likely to cancel investment projects; Germany is Russia's third-largest trading partner. MORE

Dec. 24, 2014

Experts say Cuban Pres Raul Castro's agreement with United States to normalize relations seems driven by economics, but questions remain about how many free market changes his government will undertake; foreign investors have balked at tight control in Cuba, and prospect of increased trade between two nations may make little headway unless country overcomes its resistance to change. MORE

Dec. 22, 2014

Lawyers are scrambling to determine whether normalized relations with Cuba will create opportunity to get compensation for lost properties now estimated to be worth nearly $7 billion; almost 6,000 Cuban properties owned by American citizens and companies, including farms, oil refineries, homes and factories, were confiscated by the Cuban government in years after Fidel Castro took power. MORE

Nov. 7, 2014

Editorial criticizes State Dept for helping to organize large investment conference for American business in Egypt; notes that conference coincides with deadline Egyptian government imposed in blatant effort to shut down independent groups that promote civil society and human rights; urges American executives taking part in conference to consider whether investing in Egypt is worthwhile if it means strengthening despotic system. MORE

Nov. 7, 2014

American brands like McDonalds are suffering political reprisals in Russia as part of tit-for-tat over United States and European Union sanctions for Russia's meddling in Ukraine; moves, along with prospect of recession, have curdled outlook for multinational companies that have invested billions of dollars in Russia. MORE

Oct. 23, 2014

Sub-Saharan countries have raised nearly $7 billion this year, more than in all of 2013, and yields on many bonds have fallen, even with the Ebola outbreak. MORE

Oct. 12, 2014

Emerging-market bonds have become increasingly popular, striking compromise between standard stocks and bonds; offer better returns than developed-world debt without the excessive risk of emerging-market stocks; have remained popular despite crises in countries like Argentina and Ukraine. MORE

Oct. 12, 2014

Big Deal column; New York City real estate has undergone a significant shift, with brokers courting overseas buyers; ever-expanding inventory of foreigner-friendly buildings is making New York hot spot for global wealth, and developers are increasingly building with a foreign clientele in mind. MORE

Oct. 2, 2014

Affluent Indians are joining wave of buyers from other countries who see recovering United States housing market as one of the best places to put their money; for Indians in particular, who long trusted in gold to protect their wealth, American real estate offers very attractive destination. MORE

Sep. 28, 2014

Chinese real estate tycoon Huang Nubo is looking to buy land in Norway, creating speculation about moves by China to gain a permanent foothold in the Arctic; region is growing in economic significance as global warming opens new and cheaper shipping routes from Asia; also Arctic region holds around 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its natural gas, reserves that have been untouched because of difficulty and high cost of their development. MORE

Aug. 16, 2014

Roger Cohen Op-Ed column draws parallel between influx of wealth from moneyed, and often foreign, elite into London and New York; holds that superrich who reject the West trust it when it comes to protecting their own money; says both cities reflect 21st-century openness and fluidity, but also growing inequalities of a world where global rich find ways to game economic system. MORE

Aug. 11, 2014

Editorial supports Pres Obama's intentions to help Africa build its economic potential and build partnership with continent, ambitions highlighted at White House summit meeting on Africa; warns Africa must still confront conflict, corruption and disease before such positive developments can take place; holds one particular challenge will be to ensure that increase in American investment and two-way trade does not benefit few at expense of many. MORE

Jul. 21, 2014

Rise of the middle class and consumer demand is fueling Africa's sub-Saharan economies in new ways, giving rise to hopes that continent will emerge as surprising success story; African Development Bank projects that foreign investment in Africa could reach record $80 billion this year, with larger share going to manufacturing rather than strip-mining; skeptics are quick to point out growth remains uneven, with millions still living in extreme poverty. MORE

Jul. 8, 2014

Bank runs and political instability have cast shadow on future of Bulgaria, European Union’s poorest member state; outside investment, which totaled over $9 billion in 2009, fell to $1.4 billion in 2012; corruption, erratic government policy and debt have hurt country's business climate. MORE

Jun. 12, 2014

Mr. Leverenz, who runs America’s largest emerging markets mutual fund at Oppenheimer Fund, believes that nations like China, Brazil, Russia and India are experiencing economic and social change that won’t be reversed. MORE

May. 18, 2014

China-based businesses and investors are taking the lead on several major New York City developments; highest profile project involves Shanghai-based Greenland Group, which bought 70 percent stake in residential portion of Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards project from Forest City Ratner for $200 million. MORE

May. 7, 2014

Builders of more than 1,000 condominiums in 250-acre development underway in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, hope to attract foreign investors, especially cash-rich Chinese. MORE

May. 6, 2014

Editorial criticizes France's attempt to block General Electric's proposed acquisition of an energy business from French industrial company Alstom, saying it should weigh all offers on the table; argues action is an example of protectionist policies that will only hurt the French economy in the long term. MORE

Apr. 6, 2014

Paul J Lim Fundamentally column notes that bargain-minded investors are making their way back to emerging-market funds despite year in which values dropped due to slowing Chinese economy and tensions with Russia. MORE

Mar. 30, 2014

Cuban lawmakers, following extraordinary session of Parliament, approve law intended to make country more attractive to foreign investors; measure is seen as vital for the island’s struggling economy. MORE

Mar. 17, 2014

More than a quarter of a trillion dollars has flowed into the coffers of Russia Inc., part of a broad push by yield-hungry investors into emerging markets. MORE

Mar. 14, 2014

Pro-European businessmen in Ukraine warn that Western aid may have only a superficial effect if country does not face structural and bureaucratic problems that are a legacy of its communist past; many say Poland is a model for how a former Soviet bloc country should advance, citing its rapid privatization of state enterprise and regulation, and its pursuit of education reform. MORE

Mar. 9, 2014

Debriefing column; Dylan Pichulik, chief executive of XL Real Property Management, which focuses on a foreign clientele, has the resume of seasoned authority at age 30 and found niche with the number of foreign investors on the rise in New York real estate. MORE

Mar. 5, 2014

Multinational corporations that crowed for more than a decade about their presence in booming emerging markets are now blaming turmoil in those regions for falling bottom lines; companies have cut growth forecasts as debt levels rise and political complications take center stage in countries like Thailand, Turkey and most recently the Ukraine. MORE

Feb. 18, 2014

French Pres Francois Hollande, hoping for foreign investment, pledges tax stability and other tax incentives to group of high-ranking executives from the world’s multinationals; move is a departure from some of his campaign rhetoric. MORE

Jan. 31, 2014

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column analyzes investor flight from emerging economies that precipitated steep downturn in global markets; highlights Turkey and other nations that had become dangerously dependent on foreign investment, and who are now finding it difficult to coax back as they enter a downward spiral. MORE

Jan. 29, 2014

Investment analysts have begun referring to Turkey, Brazil, India, South Africa and Indonesia as the 'Fragile Five,' referencing their overdependence on skittish foreign investments to finance growth. MORE

Dec. 27, 2013

Ties between Toledo, Ohio, and China have grown numerous over past seven years; Chinese companies have paid more than $10 million in cash for two local hotels, restaurant complex ad 69-acre waterfront property; city's location and low housing costs have helped lure Chinese investments. MORE

Oct. 15, 2013

Campaign by Kurdish leaders to make Erbil the political and business capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq has stirred investments from Western businesses; dozens of skyscrapers are planned for city. MORE

Oct. 8, 2013

More large American corporations are reducing their tax bill by buying a foreign company and effectively renouncing their United States citizenship. MORE

Aug. 20, 2013

The experiences in many emerging markets are the flip side of the economic situation in the United States, where the economic data has recently been improving. MORE

Aug. 11, 2013

Growing number of buyers from mainland China are investing in residential properties in Flushing, Queens, with some brokers saying they account for nearly half the purchases in certain buildings; trend is not altogether surprising given area's large population of Chinese immigrants. MORE

Jul. 12, 2013

United States and China will start negotiating sweeping bilateral investment treaty, which could open vast sectors of each economy to investments from other side; move is significant breakthrough but concerns over espionage and theft using the Internet have complicated the economic discussions. MORE

Jul. 1, 2013

American companies investing in Myanmar must detail in public reports steps they have taken to respect human and labor rights, to protect environment and to avoid corruption; requirement was established when Obama administration lifted economic sanctions on country. MORE

Jul. 1, 2013

Audit by office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P DiNapoli finds that Empire State Development, division of state's economic development agency, spent $2.7 million on foreign offices in 2011 and 2012 fiscal years without paying adequate attention to whether the spending was benefiting New York businesses. MORE

Jun. 8, 2013

Foreign investors set sights on Myanmar, two years after nation's civilian government came to power; some of the world’s most prominent multinational companies, including Coca-Cola, Unilever, General Electric, Philips and Visa, have begun conducting business in country. MORE

Jun. 2, 2013

A ruling by the top court is one of a number of recent signals that China’s long-assumed tolerance for foreign investment may be on the wane. MORE

Jun. 2, 2013

Lisa Prevost Mortgages column notes more foreign buyers in New York City are seeking to finance their purchases with newly-low mortgage rates; says such buyers tended to make all-cash deals during financial crisis, when risk-wary lenders were less likely to extend financing to foreigners; graph of mortgage rates in New York region. MORE

May. 8, 2013

Op-Ed article by David Rohde, columnist for Reuters and The Atlantic and former New York Times reporter, underscores need for America to find innovative ways to conduct 'economic statecraft' in Middle East and North Africa in an age of austerity; contends that Arab political awakening requires attendant economic awakening so that countries in region can transform themselves. MORE

May. 4, 2013

Editorial criticizes French officials for gloating about Yahoo's blocked acquisition of video Web site DailyMotion; holds incident sends terrible message to French entrepreneurs and foreign investors at a particularly vulnerable time for French economy. MORE

Apr. 9, 2013

Foreign manufacturers are flocking to Cambodia as a way to limit their overwhelming reliance on factories in China; problems are multiplying fast for foreign investors in China; as result, foreign investment in Cambodia rose 70 percent to $1.5 billion in 2012 from 2011. MORE

Apr. 3, 2013

Op-Ed article by journalist Ben Judah contends Cypriot bank crisis underscores way in which paranoia about Russian corruption has driven billions of rubles offshore for safety. MORE

Apr. 2, 2013

London has become just a stop in a peripatetic international existence for many recent superwealthy foreign buyers; real estate firms report that at least 37 percent of people buying property in the most expensive neighborhoods of central London do not intend them to be primary residences, and many of these foreign buyers are making moves to buy up entire neighborhoods. MORE

Mar. 25, 2013

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column posits that crisis in Cyprus may mark beginning of end of era when unrestricted movement of capital was taken as desirable norm around world. MORE

Mar. 23, 2013

Common practice among wealthy Russians of sheltering their money in Cyprus has drawn Russian government deeply into negotiations for bailout of Cyprus's banking system; estimates say about 25 percent of Russian foreign direct investment moves through Cyprus, often in way meant to lubricate Russia's economy. MORE

Mar. 2, 2013

Floyd Norris Off the Charts column observes that world's money is staying closer to home; notes that estimates by McKinsey Global Institute show that global capital flows declined in both 2011 and 2012, when they were 61 percent lower than in peak of 2007. MORE

Feb. 24, 2013

Paul J Lim Fundamentally column notes that foreign investors who have long sought safe havens for their money are developing renewed appetite for riskier investments, including emerging market equities. MORE

Dec. 31, 2012

Federal program that gives permanent residency to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in American businesses is fueling development in Jay Peak, Vermont; program, which was underused in past because of its cumbersome process, has been improved and is now growing so rapidly that it will soon be turning applicants away. MORE

Dec. 6, 2012

India's lower house of Parliament votes to support government's decision to allow Walmart and other major retailers to set up shop in country; vote occurs after national televised raucous debate, which could serve as opening bell for series of elections that will culminate in 2014, when control over central government will be determined. MORE

Nov. 20, 2012

Spain plans to offer residency permits to foreigners, particularly Chinese and Russians, who buy houses priced at more than 160,000 euros ($203,845) as part of its efforts to revive collapsed real estate market and divest itself of hundreds of thousands of unsold homes. MORE

Shell companies are used to shield the identities of buyers in the competition to secure condos at the Time Warner Center and other high-end buildings. This is the first installment in a five-part series.